A New Al Qaeda

The Sunni-Shiite split happened c. 650 C.E. In the religion of
Islam, it carries great political and theological weight.
Historically, Islamic states (e.g. Arabia, Persia, Ottoman
Empire, Mughal India, etc.) have always lent themselves to be
theocratic. The first state leaders who emerged from the birth of
Islam c. 600s CE were the Caliphs. Over the next one thousand
years, the world would see various Sheikhs, Sultans and Khans all
vie for power in the culturally flourishing part of the world
which is known as Southwest Asia, or the Middle East. Islam,
although contrary to what may meet the eye today, was the cause
of serious development in the region. Architecture, arts,
mathematics, astronomy and medicine were all revolutionized by
empires which spanned thousands of miles and thousands of years.
Today, the Middle East is known as a universal hotbed. Every day,
children live in fear for not only their lives but for the lives
of their families. The simplicity of the Sunni-Shiite split could
not be more evident. Yet, I say this as a Hindu, as a non-Islamic
person. The split was caused by dissent concerning the succession
of caliphs after the great prophet Muhammad. The Sunnis all
believed it should have been Abu Bakr, one relative of Muhammad.
The Shias felt that the title belonged to Ali, yet another
relative. And similar to Christianity, various sects in Islam
developed with time (e.g. Twelver Shiism, Sufism, Kwajism, etc.).
Nevertheless, I am not here to give you a history lesson. I am
here to talk about the "New Al Qaeda."

If you've been following the news recently, you will know that a
new terrorist organization by the name of ISIS has plagued Iraq
in civil strife. ISIS is the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a
Sunni driven campaign which seeks to spread the word of Allah as
stated in Sunni beliefs and universalize Islam by way of
jihad, or holy war. After a gruesome PR campaign was
launched and released by ISIS, the United States was quick to
raise arms and fairly literally, run around like chickens with
their heads cut off. Within the matter of weeks, the terror in
Iraq has brought attention to the policy of President Barack
Obama. Obama's desire to assess the situation carefully, and to
take steps to a helpless Iraqi government seeking foreign
intervention, has got partisan America in a twist. How? Why?

I am proud of my nation and its democratic ability to resolve its
issues; however, in recent times, I question the very nature of
my country's democracy in its effectiveness. Why does the
Republican Party wish to throw Obama in a gutter? This is not the
appropriate time to point fingers. And after a near 14 year war,
I think we should stop trying to meddle in foreign politics. If
the United States were to "protect its interests" in another way,
we wouldn't be in this partisan rift in the first place. Anyway,
I want to ask you, the teens and youth of the world: what do you
think about this new terrorist campaign? How would you like to
see your country react? Do you think Islam will forever be
sullied by sectarian conflict?